?Until now, either the four of us know about these mysterious letters or Sagar—so far we haven't told anyone about this—and I claim that apart from us, Sagar too would not have told anyone about this.

  ?"Why are you taking a guarantee for Sagar that he hasn't told anyone?"

  ?"Because he doesn't want to axe his own feet—any person, if he is going to murder someone, will not go around telling people that I am going to murder such-and-such person—exactly like that, he had come here with the intention of murdering Lame Vijay—he had already made up his mind to murder Lame Vijay—for this reason, he didn't tell the police anything. And suppose we also don't tell the police anything—but if the ball-thrower or someone else murders Sagar, then in that situation, there is no question of the police's suspicion falling on you—because you don't even have an acquaintance with Sagar. And suppose if we do tell the police something about this—and tomorrow the ball-thrower murders Sagar and plants your fingerprints on the objects present at the crime scene or on the weapon with which the murder was committed, then in that condition, it will become impossible for you to escape from the hands of the police—it will be assumed that you are the Eighth Wonder."

  ?{14}

  ?Vijay slammed his fist hard on the dining table and said—"It's a strange situation, man—if we tell the police, there's a risk; if we don't, then the maggots of fear and suspense will keep gnawing at us from within."

  ?"Assume this much as certain, that overcoming the Eighth Wonder is going to prove to be a very tough nut to crack."

  ?Vijay's silence seemed to support Akash's point, but Kanchan spoke—"The task is easy—but gaining the confidence to perform the task is difficult—stubbornness is also a very big power—a unique power that doesn't even let one feel the thorns—because when the flower becomes the sole goal, then those hands, which only want to win, cross any crooked path—and they become the true rightful owners of the fragrance of success. When the desire originating from the heart is fulfilled, the soul will find great peace; therefore, do not leave the hope of success—that hope which inspires a human for sweet water and he digs a well hundreds of feet deep—but even if salt water comes out, the hope for sweet water makes him excited again. Searching for the fragrance of success, he gets involved once again—a second time, third, fourth, or fifth time, or after some more efforts, he eventually finds a sweet-water well, and that sweet water makes him forget all that exhaustion which the salt-water wells had been giving him until now; therefore, do not lose heart—and make every possible effort to deal with this—where the effort is cent percent, there some success will surely be achieved—no matter how low its percentage might be."

  ?{15}

  ?"The energy you have given us like a military commander is truly praiseworthy, Kanchan."

  ?"But Bhabhi ji, in the example of the well you gave, success is certain—no matter how many times salt water has come out, he still knows that success will be achieved in this very way—but here the trouble is of a different kind—the well-digger knows that he will succeed in this way—we also want to do a lot, but we are confused as to what way exactly we can succeed in defeating him—the truth is that we don't even see any way to move forward—after all, in which direction should we take a step?"

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  ?"Yes, exactly—the inability to identify him has become the cause of trouble for us—because a hidden enemy and a hidden disease become a hundred times more dangerous than their actual strength—we can neither strike at a hidden enemy nor can we protect ourselves from his strike—but still, I will say that we have to deal with him at all costs—the reasons that will keep making us unsuccessful, we will get to know that at least from those reasons we are not going to get success—we will have to make a new effort every time, with a new thought."

  ?"You don't want to let our courage break in any way—your logic and feelings are admirable."

  ?"Is someone playing a prank on us?" Renu expressed a doubt with a bit of hesitation.

  ?"No," Vijay said—"Why would someone toil so much for no reason—first Sagar came to me, then this ball came and fell near me—from this, it is clearly evident that the ball-thrower is executing a pre-planned scheme—and yes—this person possesses the ability to understand human natural reactions according to various situations—so he would also know what kind of condition we are passing through at this moment—and if we find out who has played this prank—then our natural reaction could prove very fatal for him—Sagar doesn't want to die and I don't want to kill him—still, his murder will be at my hands—just as I am not ready to accept this fact—exactly in the same way, I am not ready to accept that the ball-thrower has played a prank on us."

  ?{16}

  ?"Neither is the ball-thrower a madman—nor is this a prank—and on top of that, the chances of his claim being possible are not visible—then what on earth is this thing?"

  ?"The Eighth Wonder."

  ?"Are you saying this, Vijay?" Akash expressed surprise.

  ?"Yes—because now the meaning of his point has entered my understanding—if his claim is proven true, then truly that person will be the Eighth Wonder."

  ?"How so?"

  ?"Any such task or such an object, which despite being impossible according to the thinking of an ordinary human, becomes possible, then that object or task is called a wonder—exactly in this way, according to our thinking, Sagar doesn't want to die, I don't want to kill him, so his murder at my hands is impossible—but if this happens, then this too will be called a wonder—seven wonders exist in the world—and that person will be—The Eighth Wonder."

  ?"Vijay, have you lost faith in yourself?"

  ?"I have full confidence in myself—even if doomsday comes, I will not murder Sagar—the purpose of my saying all this was only to explain to you the meaning of the Eighth Wonder."

  ?"In the letter from the ball, mentioning some trap, he has written that there was a way to get out of the Chakravyuh—but there is no way to get out of the trap spread by me—in my opinion, we haven't fallen into any trap yet?"

  ?{17}

  ?"Perhaps we have already fallen, Kanchan."

  ?"When did we fall? How did we fall?" all three asked at once.

  ?"When we fell, I don't know—how we fell, I don't know—but I know this much, that we are trapped."

  ?